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Saturday, August 31, 2013

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I have some swatch photos and a review today of the Zoya Cashmeres Collection. This collection consists of 6 color saturated creams that are sure to be a perfect fit to your fall wardrobe.

First up is Flynn. Flynn is described as a lush camel brown nude cream. This is indeed a gorgeous nude for my skintone. It would be such a great base for nail art as well. Sadly, the formula was a bit thin and runny which led to cuticle flooding. Here she is in 3 coats to reach complete opacity.

Next is Louise, which is described as rich chocolate brown cream - color you can just dive into. And dive into it you will! This brown is seriously close to looking like melted chocolate on your nails. I'm sure we all agree it gets no better than chocolate and nail polish, right? This is two easy coats. Yum!

Hunter is described best as a dark sea green cream. The formula on this one was fantastic and it only took 2 coats to be completely opaque. Of all the greens in my collection (& you all know I have plenty!) I don't think I have another one that is quite this shade. Such a gorgeous green!

Next in line we have Sailor. Sailor is described as a classic dark navy. If carefully applied you could probably get away with one coat when it comes to Sailor but I used two for photo purposes. I instantly fell in love with this beauty! I normally don't gravitate to dark shades but I love that this navy made my fingers appear a bit longer.

Zoya Pepper is described as a brick red cream and was originally designed for Peter Som's autumn/winter 2013 collection. Pepper is a shade that I would never pick up if I were in a store. After applying two easy coats I was completely head over heels for this color! It is right in between red and brown and is looks absolutely divine on the nail.

Last but not least, here is Zoya Livingston. If you are a red lover you are in luck because this one is truly haute! She is described as a lush autumn red. Livingston has a great formula and only needed two coats to reach complete opacity.

Overall, I would have to say the Zoya Cashmeres Collections is a well put together group of colors. Although none of them are overly unique, they are indeed perfect for fall and will be nice accompanied by your favorite comfy sweater. With the exception of Flynn, the formulas were all nice and really color saturated. My favorites are Louise, Sailor & Pepper. The Cashmeres Collection can be purchased at Zoya.com and retail for $8 each or $48 for the set. Which of these will you be picking up? As always, I hope you all enjoyed this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today's post features some nail art looks using the Zoya PixieDust Collection for Fall 2013. I have two manicures to share with you guys that show off the gorgeous colors that make up this stunning collection.

The first manicure I have for you was created using striping tape. I used 2 coats of Tomoko for my base color and put a piece of striping tape on it diagonally once it was completely dry. One coat of Arabella went on then another piece of striping tape and a coat of Carter.

As you can imagine, the striping tape was a little tricky to get down on top of the textured polish. Some parts of it lifted a tiny bit which left my lines not as clean as I would like. I didn't mind that at all because this manicure was just so sparkly it was hard to keep my eyes off it! The drying time of this formula is a huge plus as well. The wait time to apply the striping tape was about 12 minutes between coats.

My next PixieDust nail art manicure features the gorgeous Dhara as my base color. I adore this orange polish so much! The golden sparkles in it are stunning and this shade of orange is very fall, it reminds me of pumpkins.

I went with a "classic" stamping image over Dhara. The zebra/tiger design on Konad's M57 plate will never get old to me. This look was achieved using M57 & Konad Special Stamping polish in black.

I hope you guys can see how versatile these textured polishes are. I would've never thought that you could stamp over them since they don't have a smooth surface. Pretty neat, huh? Zoya PixieDust polishes retail at $9 per bottle and are available at zoya.com. As always, I hope you enjoyed this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Today is the King of Pop's 55th birthday and I'm joining in on a fabulous idea that my friend Tiffany came up with. Not only is Tiffany great at painting her nails, she's an amazing dancer and dance teacher and it's no wonder that she would inspire us all to do manicures inspired by one of her favorite artists. Tiff came up with the idea to do silver glitter bomb accent manicures today to represent Michael's infamous glove. How could I turn down the opportunity to

celebrate one of music's most iconic figures with glitter?!

I threw around so many ideas until it clicked while watching "Beat It" on YouTube. I finally knew exactly what I was going to do! I just HAD to replicate that fabulous red leather jacket on my nails! I mean, besides the glove isn't that what we all think of in terms of fashion and MJ?

My manicure began with a base of Essie Feed Me followed by 3 coats of Bettina Flame. Of all the reds in my collection I chose Flame because it is a crelly and that tiny bit of squishy factor went so well with the patent shine on his jacket. I also really love the formula of this polish. It isn't too runny like most reds I've tried.

I imitated the zippers on Michael's jacket by using Essie No Place Like Chrome and a zipper image on Bundle Monster's BM202 stamping plate. China Glaze Glistening Snow was perfect for my silver glitter bomb accent! I used 3 coats to achieve complete oppacity and used my ultra glossy HKGirl top coat to complete my manicure.

With all the controversy surrounding Michael Jackson and his family these days, I'm so glad Tiffany made a way for us to have fun and celebrate the icon that he truly was. I hope you all are joining us and can't wait to see your silver glitter bomb accent manis! Don't forget to tag your pics #manisformj on instagram so that we can see them & follow Tiffany's blog, Tiffany's Tasteful Talons. Happy Birthday Michael Jackson!! As always, I hope you enjoyed this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I like forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Hello Lacquer Luvers! In my last post I asked you guys to guess the three colors I used for my franken polish. You all came sooo close to getting the three colors I used right, most of you were just one polish off! The polishes I used were Lush Lacquer Clowning Around, Maybelline Clearly Spotted & Orly Prisma Gloss Silver. I still want to giveaway my prize so let's play a game, Name That Franken! Leave a comment below with your name suggestion and I'll pick my favorite and send you a prize! Don't forget to include your email address and that you have to be a follower via GFC for your entry to be valid. Good luck!

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Hello Lacquer Luvers! Last night I saw a post on Instagram by GlamorousLacquer. She posted her Walgreens haul and I spotted a black and white glitter by Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear. I was talking to friends and we were saying that it was pretty cool that mainstream brands are coming out with polishes that have an indie vibe. I noted that this was the third black and white glitter I recall seeing (Hard Candy & Maybelline have one, too). So I got to thinking...I wish they threw some variety in there so that there wouldn't be so many dupes. That set off a lightbulb and I immediately decanted a mini bottle and started to franken!

So I don't know about you guys but I've seen sooo many gorgeous neon glitters on the indie scene lately. I thought to myself, "self, wouldn't black, white, and neon be a stunning combo?" As I'm mixing and shaking I thought that some tiny holo sparkles would really complete my vision so I threw some of that in the mix.

Completely in awe of my franken in the bottle, I didn't hesitate to see what it looked like on my nails! I tried it over a nude base first. Above you'll see two coats of my franken over OPI Samoan Sand and topped with a coat of HKGirl topcoat.

I knew last night that I wanted to try this baby over purple. My friend, Tam, mentioned that grey is a great base for so many glitter toppers so I wanted to try that as well. Oh my, my, my! I can't stop staring at how beautiful this topper is over Zoya's Perrie & Harley!

You might have noticed that I didn't mention what polishes I used for this franken. If you can name the three polishes I used I will send you a secret prize! If more than one person correctly guesses the polishes I will use a random generator to pick the winner. To enter, simply leave a comment below with your guess along with your email address so that I can contact you if you win. You must be a following me via GFC for your entry to be valid. This mini contest will end Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at midnight EST. As always, I hope you all enjoyed this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Hello Lacquer Luvers! This fall the fairies over at Zoya bring us their third PixieDust Collection. The PixieDust line of polishes is compromised of a revolutionary textured matte formula that sparkles. I have been loving the past two collections and am excited to share photos of the beauties that are set to make a dazzling impression with your fall wardrobe!

First up, Tomoko:

Tomoko is described as a romantic champagne silver. This beauty looks like luxurious crushed diamonds on my nails! Absolutely stunning and just two coats to reach full opacity.

Chita:

Chita is described as a forest green with sparkling matte texture. The formula was amazing and application was effortless. This color just screams fall! (2 coats)

Sunshine:

Sunshine is described as a "Van Gogh" navy blue. I swatched this one last and did not want to ever take it off!!! This is two coats for photo purposes but if carefully applied this beauty can be a one coater. She's a lot deeper than what my photo shows but, as you can see in the macro shot, sunshine really brought out the sparkle in Sunshine.

Dhara:

Dhara is described as a fiery orange copper with a sparkling matte texture. I love how juicy this one looks! It has a squishy jelly look to it that made her really stand out amongst the others in this collection. (3 coats)

Arabella:

Arabella is described as a rich fuchsia pink with matte sparkling texture. This is two coats and is a truly gorgeous.

Carter:

Carter is described as a royal purple with sparkling matte texture. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves with this one don't they? I mean..that gorgeous shade of purple AND purple glitter?! Love, love, love!!

Overall, I'm really impressed with this collection and have to say that out of all the lines with textured polishes Zoya really does kick it up ten notches with the sparkle factor. My favorites would have to be Dhara, Sunshine & Carter. What are yours? You can purchase the Zoya Fall Pixie Dust polishes on their website, zoya.com, for $9 each or $54 for the set. As always, I hope you enjoyed this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

Friday, August 23, 2013

Hello Lacquer Luvers! A few weeks ago I came across a post in AIS (Adventures in Stamping) about some awesome new stamping plates by a company called MoYou London. Once I saw the designs I HAD to have two of the plates and today I'm showing off the first mani I did using one of them.

Please excuse my frizzy hair in the picture, it was early in the morning and I couldn't wait to photograph the plates and get started on a manicure lol. Anyway, as you can see, these plates are shaped differently than most. They're rectangular with a plastic underside which is nice protection from the sharp edges some plates are known to have.

I began my manicure with a base of Essie Feed Me followed by a skittle manicure using the following colors: (thumb) Essie Shake Your $$ Maker, (index) Essie Bouncer It's Me, (middle) Zoya Pippa, (ring) Zoya America, (pinky) Saturday Disco Fever. I used two coats for the Zoya nails and three coats for the ones polished with Essie shades.

I used the dotted image from MoYou Pro Collection - 10 on my middle and ring fingers then used the POW! and BANG! images over the dots using Konad Special Stamping Polish in white. I used nail art stripers and a dotting tool to freehand the cartoonish look on the rest of my nails following this tutorialby CutePolish. My manicure was complete with a coat of HKGirl topcoat.

Waaaait! No, now it's complete with a coat of Hard Candy's Matte-ly In Love!! I think the matte topper did so much to make the comic book nails look more..cartoonish. I can't wait to try out more images on this plate and show you guys the other one that I got! As always, I hope you all enjoyed this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing the next one with you, xo!

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Hello Lacquer Luvers! I was contacted and kindly asked to review a brand new line of nail stickers by OMG Nail Strips. This company offers a fun array of easy to apply nail strips that are very convenient when you are in a time crunch and want some cool nail art on your nails. The designs are very unique and the strips are inexpensive, making it even more appealing to try them. I chose to review the Sneaker Nail Polish Strips & Love Nail Polish Strips. Let's have a look at them!

I have tried nail strips/stickers/appliques a few times and was a little worried about application issues as I have personally had problems with wrinkling and sizing before. I wanted to give you a review that was 100% honest so I took the time to photograph each step for you all to see in the photo collage above (start in the top left corner and work your around the center photo). To apply OMG Nail Strips simply follow these instructions:

Soak your hands in warm water for 5 minutes. Dry hands, then gently push back cuticles. Carefully remove any excess skin around the nail bed.

Moisturize your hands with lotion, and wait 1 minute.

Using a Q-tip, remove any leftover lotion from the nail bed, paying special attention to the sidewalls, cuticle area and tip of the fingernail.

Select the appropriate sized nail strip for each nail to ensure the nail will be covered from sidewall to sidewall. Using a nail strip that is too large for a particular nail is not recommended; rather, trim the strip the scissors to the appropriate width.

Peel off the clear coating, and then carefully remove the nail polish strip from the sticker backing,

Start by placing whichever end on the nail strip that works better for your nails at the cuticle and apply it by smoother the strip towards the tip and your nail, smoothing out and bumps and ensuring the strip is tucked neatly into the sidewalls.

File away any excess nail strip by holding your nail file parallel to the surface you are working on, as filing the nail perpendicularly will cause tearing along the tip.

After you have applied all ten polish strips, take a cotton ball the has been dipped in polish removed with the excess remover wrung out, and swipe each nail 1-3 times, paying special attention to the sidewalls, tips and cuticle area. This step is especially important, as it melts the strip to your nails, allowing for longer lasting wear.

Apply a finishing topcoat, and wait 5 minutes for it to dry completely.

Unfortunately, my fast drying topcoat cracked the sneaker nail strips a bit. I still liked them though and wore them overnight. I was soooo anxious to try the Love Nail Strips so I went ahead and applied those but skipped the topcoat this time.

I love this design so much! Not only that, but you all know that it is my favorite color combination and they applied really nicely! There were some larger strips that can be used for a pedicure later.

Overall, I would say that OMG Nail Strips are pretty neat and versatile in that they come in a variety of designs and sizes. I did have some wrinkling and cracking the first time I used them but that could've very well have been user error as the second time around I had no issues at all with them. OMG Nail Stickers are currently offering a 4 for $20 promotion with the coupon code "4PACK" & 10 for $45 with coupon code "10PACK". You can find OMG Nail Strips on Facebook and Instagram (@omgnailstrips) so be sure to check them out! Shipping is always FREE, too! As always, I hope you all enjoyed this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Hello Lacquer Luvers and Happy International Nail Art Day! The lovely @nailsbymimi (check out her awesomeness on Instagram) came up with the brilliant idea of having a holiday to celebrate something we polishaholics all love, nail art! You all know that while I very much enjoy swatching beautiful nail polishes, my heart is in the art. I love expressing myself through it and couldn't pass up the opportunity to join in on the festivities today!

Today's look features three forms of nail art that took me so many practice sessions to get right, each earning their very own lane in my nail art world. I absolutely LOVE these types of nail art and think they're all equally fun to do. I've got some gradient/stamping/water marbling goodness going on for INAD and I love how my nails came out for this special day!

I started with a base of Essie Feed Me followed by two coats each of China Glaze Tantalize and Essie Marshmallow on my accent finger. I created a gradient on my accent finger with Marshmallow, Tantalize Me & Gothic Lolita with the help of a makeup sponge. Once that dried, I topped it with Orly's Prisma Gloss Silver for some scattered holo glitter prettiness!

Next I began to water marble my nails using the colors mentioned above. For those of you who have ever tried marbling, I'm sure you can agree that it is one of those things you have a love/hate relationship with lol! I've always loved the final look of this beautiful art though and don't mind the process of getting it just right because it's so mesmerizing to look at all day!

I went back to my ring finger for the stamping part of my manicure. With the help of MASH-41 & some Konad Special Stamping Polish in white, I went over my holo glitter gradient with this stunning floral image. My mani was complete with a coat of the scattered holo polish over my water marbled nails and a final coat of HKGirl topcoat on all of them.

I had so much fun coming up with this look for International Nail Art Day and am so happy that we have a day to call our own! Nail art has been a way for me to express how I'm feeling through color and is most definitely my favorite "me time". There was a recent rumor going around, someone said nail art was dead. I guess we're proving them wrong today! Don't forget to tag your nails with #INAD on Instagram for those of you joining in. As always, I hope you enjoyed this post my dear Lacquer Luvers and I look forward to sharing my next post with you, xo!